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Review: Hearthstone Bennington

Reviewed June 05, 2009 by
FORMER HEATHSTONE EMPLOYEE

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Hearthstone Bennington
As a former employee who dealt with finishing and packaging, i can tell by some of the reviews that some people have just received crap-lousy builds. The Bennington was one of the most difficult to build, there for alot of the time complete garbage stoves would just be pushed through and shipped out because their was no time to rework them.
For example the guys side door falling off was probably just a bad door that should not have been thrown on, or the other guys front doors that chips the enamel, CLEARLY should not have been put on. the airflow lever was done half-assed alot of the time, and maybe some of the other people got the wrong size ashpan thrown in, who knows.
also, the people who have to open the doors in order to get the fire going, their is a reason for that. every stove is somewhat different as far as being air-tight. when we tested them it has to be within a certain range in order to be legal. they mark the test number on the pallet it is bolted on. their are super-air-tight stoves, and not so air tight stoves. so i would assume the people having trouble got some of the really really air-tight builds.
i would not bash the bennington too hard, it is a high quality good stove when you get a good build. the problem is its just really hard to build this model as fast as the other heathstone stoves, yet the company tries to pump them out just as fast and your bad reviews are the results.
the bottom line is if you have a sub-par bennington, my insider advice would be to send it back, and demand your moneys worth. the customer service office is literally right outside the production floor. all they have to do is walk out and tell the guys that they have an angry customer complaining and that they need to build one perfect stove with good parts, good doors, good handles, the right ashpan, and high air test scores (the higher the score, the less air-tight) and then set it aside and mark it to be sent to the angry customer. trust me, they can make it happen. i have seen it happen.